Telephone apparatus.



BATENTED AUG. 7, 1906.

K. KOHN. TELEPHONE APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1903.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I No. 828,218. -PATENTED AUG. 7, 1906.

K. KOHN.

TELEPHONE APPARATUS.

APPLIOYATION FILED NOV. 20. 1903.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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N0- 828,218. PATENTED AUG. 7, 1906.

K. KOHN.

TELEPHONE APPARATUS.

APPL IIIIIIIIIIIII 0120,1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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AAAAAA Al UNITED STATES PA ENT oFFroE.

KoBr KOHN, OF NEW'YORK, N. Y.,'ASS1GNOR OF ONE-HALF o LOUIS A.

KSENSKY, DENVER, COLORADO. TELEPHONE APPARATUS- ivb. 828,218.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed November 20,1903.Serial'No. 181,944.

Patented Aug. 7, 1906.

To ail whom; it may concern:

Be it known that I, KoBY KoHN, a citizen of the United States, residingin the city, county, and State of New-York,have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Telephone Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification. This invention relates to telephone systems; and theobject of the invention is to provide means whereby when one subscriberon a telephone arty-line either calls central 2a in open circuits untila subscri er calls or is called, when his receiver-circuit will beclosed and all otherreceiver-circuits on the line be prevented frombeing closed by the respective subscribers until; the calling or calledsubscriber has finished the conversation and central has restored allparts to normal position. I v The invention, which may be usedwitheither the local-generator system or the central-energy system forcalling, wilh be fully described hereinafter, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic viewillustrating my invention as used in asystem employ-ing local generatorsfor calling'central. ig. 2 is a plan view of the armature resettingapparatus. Fig. 3 is a 1 view showing the means for controlling thearmature D mechanically by the movement of armature C". Fig. 4 is adiagram showing the devices for sendingcurrents over the main line-Wiresb' the operator at central. Fig. 5 is a detail view showing means forpreventin accidental movement of the armatures. Fig. '6 is a diagramillustrating my invention as used in conjunction with the central energysystem.

It is .to be understood that the present invention ma beembodied in an aparatus which may o'rm an attachment to te ephones 50 at present iniuseor it may be a part of the telephone. In Fig. 1 I. haveillustrateddiagrammatically the'devices employed at the central officeandalso those for two stations a andb. It is to be understood, however,that theinvene two will be connected to the line-wires the same as a andtwo the same as b.

The line-wires are indicated by X and XX, and F is a' generator of anyknown style, one

of such generators being at each station, and 1 tlon'mav be used withfour stations, of WhlCll when the generator is not in use its armatureis cut out at F which may be considered its normal condition. p I p I'In my prior application five magnetsA, B,

function of B being to close'the receiver-circuit at its station alter Dis energized to close a circuit through B. In the present case themagnet Bis dispensed with, together with the circuits necessary toenergize it from D, and themagnet D is utilized to directly close the 5C, D, and E are employed at each station, the

receivercircuit at its station andbreak a v local circuit for a bell, inaddition to perform ing its other function of" closing a circuit throughcentral, as in the other application. By the omission of the ma net Band its circuits I am enabled to materially simplify and reduce theexpense of the construction of the apparatus of the said priorapplication, and

ent invention.

subscriber desires to call .central, the gen- .erator F is operated andthe circuit is closed i this is one oft-he. principal objects of thepresat F thereby establishing a ,circuit as fol? lows: from generator Fto Wire F magnet D," 1

wire D, brush D, contact D brush D, wire D brush A, contact. A brush A,Wire A" to the generator. This will result in energizing D andattracting its armature D, which re-' sults in engaging the contact G:with brushes B". Brush D will be disengaged from con;- tact, D and brushD be en aged with it.

contact H contact H wire H", brush contact H brush H", wire H wire X, wire D brush D, contact D brush D, wire D, brush A, contact A, brush A,wire A, to genera- G and G contact B with brushes 13 and -9s Currentfrom the generator w I then pass to 1 loo tor. The magnet H will thus beener ized, V

and its armature H pivoted at 6, will e at-' tracted, thereby releasingthe drop H to. notify central and. engagin' the contact H with brushesH", H", an H and the contact H with brushes H and H It also theirbrushes A and A, and this will prevent.

current being sent from any generator F throughits magnet D to close anyother receiver-circuit on the line. v To operate the magnet A at stationa, current will flow from, the battery H to wire 11?, brush H contact Hbrush H wire H 9, wire X, wire A brush A, contact A, brush A, wire A",magnet A, wire A brush A", contact A", brush A, wire XXX, to the ground,thence up wire H at central to brush H contact H brush H wire H to"battery Y t To operate magnet A at station I), current will flow frombattery H to wire H brush H contactH brush H", wire H Wire H,

wire XX, wire A, brush A, contact A, brush A magnet A to the round andback to battery H at central, as efore described. Some of the currentfrom battery H, which passes over wire H will pass through'mag net H towire H spring-contact H, contact H wire H to the battery H thus keepingthe magnet H energized after the, current from generator F has ceased,and thereby holding the armatu'r'e H? attracted until the circuit frombattery H through said ma net -is broken, as will be hereinafter descried. A metallic circuit to central will also be established fcr'thereceiver at the calling-station as follows: from wire XX to wire G toreceiver G-to wire G brush G contact G brush G, wire G wire G to wire X,and the calling subscriberis thus enabled to talk with central, and allthe other subscribers on the line are prevented from closin their ownreceiver circuits and cannot, t erefore, hear any conversation that maybe carried on.

Fig.1 I have illustrated the receiver G supported on a hook G, connectedto wire G The wire G is directly connected to the receiver, as is also acontact G When the receiver is removed from the hook, the latter will bedrawn by its spring into engagement with the contact G and completea-cir'cuit through the receiver from wire G to wire G.

e receiver-circuit will still be open, however, until either magnet D ormagnet C is operated.

As shown the receiver-circuits are each provided with the usualsecondary inductioncoil I in close proximit to the usual primaryinduction-coil J; but ese coils form no part of the present inventionand are illustrated merely to show that my invention can be applied totelephones now in use without the necessity of mutilating them inanyway.

-When central answers the call from the person at station a, a jack orplug is inserted in H, which will force the contact-spring away from Hthereby breaking the circuit from the battery H and deenergizing themagnet H which will release its armature, and the latter will berestored to normal position by the spring H The drop H? may also berestored to its normal position, and then the operator at central maywithdraw the ack from H and permit the spring-contact H to engage H andthen the circuit from the generator F at station a will be complete toenable the person using the phone at such station to ring on.

We will now assume that central desires to call up station I). A currentwill first be sent over lines X and XX to energize all the magnets A andcause them to attract their armatures A", and thereby cause the.contactE to engage brushes E and E and thereby establish a circuit ateachstatlon from one or the other of wires XX or X to wire E, brush E,contact E 3, brush E ,-magnet E, wire E,-

ma net C, wire C, bell C wire 0 wire to the earth to central and then tothe res ective wires X or XX. r

s before stated, it is intended to have four stations on the same line,and the bell C at two of the stations will be connected to the wire Xand at the other two stations to the .wire XX. As shown at station a,the

bell is connected to wire X and at station I) to wire X-X, and wewillassume that at'station c the connection is the same at at a and at dthe sanie as at I). Now when central desires to call a stationsay bit isnot desirable to up d; but as the current sent from cenrin 'tmi overwire XX will pass through the bell C at each of these stations one ofthe bellsis sent through C its armature C will be attracted and causecontact G to engage brushes G and G, and thereby close'thereceiver-circuit at station b as follows: from wire XX to wire G,receiver G, Wire G brush G contact G, brush G ,'wire G, to

wire X. It will also close the generator-circuit at B, B", and B andcentral can then talk with the subscriber at station b or put him intocommunication with some other person who may wish to talk to him eitheron the same line or another.

It will be observed that the armature E ofthe magnet E is held retractedby a spring E and that the armatures of the magnets A, C, and D have nosprings. The function of the magnet E is to reset the armatures ofmagnets A, C, and D after they have been attracted, as fully describedin my said-prior application,- and the'spring E is of sufficientstrength to prevent the armature E being attracted when the current foroperating the bell C andmagnet C is passing through magnet E,-itrequiring a stronger current to attract the armature E than it does toring the bell C and erate magnet C.

In my said prior application whenthe armature E operated to restore thearmature A to normal position the latter armature .was movedsufficiently to close a circuit'at A, A, andA before the armature E hadfully completed its stroke, and this resulted in sending partofthe-current intended for E from one of the wires X or XX through magnetA direct to the ground, which energized A and tended to pull itsarmature against the action of armature E and while this did not preventthe full operation of E it necessitated a stronger current than isnecessary in i the present arrangement. As before described, the currentthrough magnet A passes through brushes A and A and contact A to theground, and the current to E passes through brushes E and E and contactE on armature A. When, therefore, armature E begins to move, itmechanically operates armature A andengages contact A with brushes A andA, and if contact was not broken at ARA", and A themagnet A would beenergized and tend to attract itsarmature, and thus resist the action ofE. The

partsare therefore so arranged that substantially at the same time ascontact A is caused to engage brushesA and A contact A will disengagebrushes A and A and no cur rent, or practically none, will pass throughA, and the latter consequently will not resist the action of E. Duringthe first part of the movement of E the current through E will also passthrough 0, and. this. magnet will tend to resist the action of E but asthe lat ter moves it will close a circuit at E E and E from magnet E tothe ground, and magnet 0 and bell C will thus be short-circuited,

and; the magnet will offer no further resistance to the action of E. Ofcourse as ar mature A is moved to normal position'the circuit for magnetE will be broken at E E and E; but another will first have beenestablished at E E and E The means for mechanically operating thearmatures D A9, and C by the armature E are illustrated in Fig. 2, whereit will be seen that the arm which carries armature E9 is pivoted at 5and extends for-some distance on the opposite side of magnet E. The armswhich carry the armatures D", A", and C are respectively pivoted at 2,4, and 3 and extend the under an enlargement 7 on arm carrying armatureE. When either of the armatures D", A", or C attracted, its arm willengage the enlargement 7, and then if armatureE is attracted theenlargement 7 will press on such arms as have been moved into engagementwith it and restore their armatures to normal position. this featurebroadly in the present application, as it is so claimed in my priorapplica tion.

Preferably the enlargement 7 will be provided with adjustable'screws 9to engage the arms carrying the other armatures.

-It is desirable to provide some means for I do not, however, claiminforming a person desiringto call when the line is busy that suchis-the' fact, and I preferably em loy an audible signalfor this purpose,whic is operated by a current from the enerator F. As before stated,when a call 1s sent to central or from central all the magnets A on theline are energized and .attract their armatures, thereby breaking allthe generator-circuits to central at A, A,'and A .and closing a circuitatK, K and K If now a person at a-station other than the one using .thelineshould operate his generator F, a current will flow from thegenerator to wireF, wire K brush K, contact K brush K bell- K, wireK",brush K contact K brush K", wire K brush K", con-, tact K ,"brush K",Wire K, wire A to generator, and the bell K will ring, and thus notifyperson that the line is busy. In my prior app ication the armature of[the magnet B carried a contact equivalent to contact K on armature D toengage brushes equivalent to brushes K and K", and the armature D thusperforms another function performed by the armature of magnet B in mysaid prior application.

Various means may be devised for sending the necessary currents over theWires X and XX by the operator at central, and in Fig. 4 I have shownapparatus which may be used for this purpose. Thus for sending thestrongest current over the wires X and XX for energizing the magnets E,I provide a battery or other source of electrical supply S of thenecessary capacity and provide a switchlever S, having contacts S and T,insulated from each other. Brushes S and S, adapted to be engaged by thecontact S are respectively connected to wires XX and X; One

ole of the battery S is electrically connected by a wire S to thecontact S and the other ole to the ground. When the switch-lever ismoved to engage contact S with brushes S and S", currentfromthe batterywill be sent over both line-wires XX and X throughv magnets E to theground, as already described, and back to battery S. V A portion, of thesame battery S maybe utilized for energizing magnets A, whlch do not reuire so strong a current as magnets E. T us the contact T is electricallconnected by a wire T with a portion on y of the battery, as shown inFig. 4. Two brushes T and T adapted to be engaged by contact T, arerespectively connected to wires XX and X, and when switch-lever S ismoved to engage contact T with brushes T and T current from a portion ofbattery S will flow over wires XX and X through magnets A to the groundand back to the battery S. The current forenergizing magnets C and bellsC is preferably a continuous vibratory current, and in Fig. 4 I haveshown one means for sending a current of this character over the lines Xand Thus the line X is connected to a pivoted switch 0 by a wire 0', andthe line XX is connected to-a similar switch O by a Wire A battery orothersuitable generator 0 is provided, and the positive pole thereof isconnected to a contact adapted to be engaged by either of the switches Oor 0 and its ne ative pole is connected to a contact O", a apted to beengaged by either of .7 the switches O or' O. A commutator is providedineach connection between said contacts and the battery, and the latter isconnected to the earth.

If the switch 0 be rocked to' engage O, a

negative current will be sent over line X through magnets C and returnby the ground to battery O If switch 0 engages 0 a positive current willbe sent over line X and return through "the (ground to battery 0. Byoperating switch 2 the same effects take place over wire XX.

It may sometimes happen that after the operator-at central has operateda switch 0 or O to send either a positive or a negative current over thewire XX or X, as thecase may be, to energize a magnet C she mayinadvertently in returning the switch to normal position move it too farandengage the other contact,- in which case a current of op? positepolarity would be sent over the linewe, and this would repel thearmature that had been attracted and again break the receiver-circuit atG G and G, in which case the subscriber intended to be called would beunable to talk over the line.

ceiver-circuit shall be closed in any event,- the arm which carries thearmature- (3 is pro vided with an extension 20, adapted to en-' age asimilar projection 21 on the arm carry mg the armature D when botharmatures are in their retracted positions. (See Fig. 3.) If now thearmature (1 be attracted, it will cause the armature D to move towardits magnet D mechanically, and thereby close the receiver-circuit at G,G", and G It will thereafter make no difference if the armature C isrepelled,- as stated above. The receiver-circuit will still be closed atG G and G and the person called can talk over the line. It will beobserved that the armathe latter will be moved To compen sate for suchaccident and insure that the re V-shaped projection 26 on the end of thearmature-arm .and'also a spring 28, having a V- shaped projection 27 toengage said projection 26.

In Fig. 5 the parts are shown in normal p0- sition in full lines, and itwill be seen that thearmature is eldingly held away from the magnet.Wlilen, however, the magnetis energized, the spring 28 will yield andpermit the projection 26 to pass by 27 to the position indicated indotted lines in said figure,- and the reaction of the s ring willthrough the cooperation of the inc line surfaces of the two projectionstend to move the armature toward the ma net and hold it there even ifthe magnet has een deenergized. The springs will also aid the armature13 in resetting the armatures.

Referring now to Fig. 6, which is a diagrammatic view showing theapparatus at central and that at one station on a party-line in acentral-energy system, it will be observed that the magnets A, O, D, andE are employed in substantially the same relations asin the systemheretofore described. The generator F and its circuits are, however,omitted. In this casethe removal of the receiver G fromits suporting-hopk D will serve to send a signs. to central and automaticallysend a current from central through the magnet D to close-thereceiver-circuit. Assuming now the receiver G is removed from the hookD,

its spring into engagement with a contact 9 and close a circ u1t asfollows: from hook D to contact D,

wire. D, brush A contact A? on armature A,

brush A, wire D ma net D, wire D mainline wire XX,-through atteryM ,spri'-con'- tact M contact M, wire M, ma iiet M, line-wire X, wire'DK to hooD. The closin of this circuit will energize magnets D and The magnet Dwill attract its armatureD and close its receiver-circuit at G G and Gand break the local circuit for bell K at K, K and K.

The magnet M will attract its armature 'M and cause the contact M toengage the brushes M and M" and the contact M to engage brushes M andM". thus be established from battery M to Wire M magnet M, brush Mcontact -M, brush M wire M, to battery M and the current from ,wire' Acircuit willf the battery will keep the magnet M energized to hold itsarmature attracted and keep circuits closed at M, M and M and at M M andM so as to absolutely insure the operation of all the magnets A on thepartyline when current is sentover the lines X and XX from central toenergize them, as before described in connection with 1. As soon as themagnets A. attract their armatures the circuits for magnets D will bebroken at A, A and A and no further current can pass through thesemagnets from the line until the parts are restored to normal position.

As no generator is employed at the stations in the central-energysystem, it is necessary to provide some means for ringing the bell K toindicate to a subscriber when the line is busy. As shown, I provide abattery L in the local circuit for the bell. When the armature A isattracted, the contact K7 will engage brushes K and K An open circuitwith a break at D and D is then established, including the bell K andbattery L, as follows:

from hook D to wire L, battery L, wire K bell K, wire K, brush K contactK brush K wire K brush K contact K brush K wire K brush K contact Kbrush K fwire K, wire D and contact D. If then the receiver be removedfrom its hook I), the circuit will be closed between D and D and bell Kwill ring.

So far as sending current from central over the wires X and XX for themagnets C .and E and hell 0 the operation is the same as alreadydescribed in connection with Fig. 1.

It will of course be understood that when the armatur D" has beenoperated the circuit forbell is broken at K, K", and K The same isequally true with reference to Fig. 1,'where the generator F will notring the bell K at any stationwhere the armature D9 has been operated.

The brushes A and A and contact A are so arranged that the armature Awill nearly. complete its full stroke before the circuit for magnet D isbroken at this point, and the brushes G and G and contact G are soarranged that armature D will make only a' small portion of its strokebefore the receiver- This is circuit is closed at G, G and G. essentialfor the perfect o eration of the apparatus, since magnet gets itscurrent through A, A and A and if the circuit was broken prematurely atthis point the receivercircuit would not be closed at G G and G.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangementshown, I claim as my invention 1. In a telephone system for party-lines,the combination with the main-line wires leading from a central ofiice,of a series of telephone-receivers each independentl connected to theline-wires by an open e ectric circuit, a magnet and an armature at eachstation for closing the circuit of its receiver i only, and means ateach station under the control of a person thereat for energizing themagnet at such station to first close its own receiver-circuit, and thenclose a circuit at the" central office for sending a current over themain-line wires to operate devices for preventing the closure of anyother receivercircuit on the line, substantially asset forth.

2. In a telephone system for party-lines,

the combination with the main-line wires leading from a central office,of a series of telephone-receivers each independently connected to theline-wires by an open electric circuit,a receiver-circuit closer at eachstation including a magnet and an armature, a signal at the centraloffice, and a generator at each station under the control of a personthereatfor energizing the magnet at its'own station only to close thereceiver-circuit and also for operating the signal at the centraloffice, and for closing a circuit at the central office for sending acurrent over the mainline wires to operate devices for preventing theclosure of any other receiver-circuit on the line by persons at suchreceiver-stations,

substantially as set forth.

3. In a telephone system for party-lines, the combination with themain-line wires leading from a central oflice, of a series oftelephone-receivers each independentl connected to the line-Wires by anopen e ectriccircuit acircuit-closer includin a ma net and an armatureat each receiver-station under the' control of a person thereat forclosing the receiver-circuit at such station, a circuit-closer includinga magnet and an armature at each receiver-station under the control ofan operator at the'central oflice-for closing the receiver-circuits atthe respective stations, and means for mechanically operating thefirst-named armature at a station when the second-named armature at thesame station is electiically'operated for closing the receiver-circuit,substantially as set forth. 1 l

4. In a telephone system for party-lines, the combination with themain-line wires leading from a central ofiice, of a series .oftelephone-receivers each independently connected to the line-wires by anopen electric circuit, acircuit-closer including a magnet and anarmature at each receiver-station under the control of a person thereatfor closing the receiver-circuit at such station, a circuit-closerincluding a polarized magnet and an armature at each receiver-stationunder the control of an operator at the central ofiice for closing thereceiver-circuits at' the respective stations, and means whereby thefirst-named magnet and armature may be operated to close thereceiver-circuit without affectin the polarized armature, and

when the said polarized magnet and armature are operated to closejthereceiver-circuit the-first-named armature will be mechanically operatedthereby to also close the re ceiv'erecircuit, substantially as setforth.

5. In a telephone system for party-lines, the combination with themain-line Wire's leading from a central ofiice, of a series oftelephone-receivers each independently connected to the line-Wires by anopen electric circuit, a circuit-closer including anelectrically-operated armature at each station under the control of aperson thereat for closing the receiver-circuit at such station, acircuitcloser includin a polarized magnet and armature at eacreceiver-station under the control of'an operator at central for closingthe receiver-circuits at the --respective stations, said armatures beingcarried by pivoted arms and the arms overlapping at adjacent ends,whereby when the polarized armature is electrically operated to closethe receiver-circuit its arm will rock the arm of the other armature andcause the latter to as set forth.

6. In a telephone system for party-lines, the combination with themain-line Wires leading from a central office, of a series oftelephone-receivers each independently connected to said wires by anopen electric ciralso close the receiver-circuit, substantially cuit,means at each receiver-station ada ted to be electrically o erated by acurrent om the central office or'preventing the closure of therespective receiver-circuits, means at seams each receiver-stationadapted to be electrically operated for closing the receiver-circuit atits own station only, and a single magnet and armature at eachreceiver-station for closing its own receiver-circuit and also closing acircuit at the central oflice over which said current may be sent toprevent the closure of the other receiver-circuits on the line bypersons at such receiver-stations, substantially as set forth.

.7. .In a telephone system for party-lines, the combination with themain-line wires leading from a' central office, of a series oftelephonereceiv ers each independently connected to said wires by anopen electric cir cuit, a generator at veach receiver-station, a magnetat each station in the normal circuit of the generator and operatingwhen ener-- g'ized by the generator to close the receivercircuit at itsstation and also to close a second circuit for the generator; andanother magnet at each station operating when enerized. by a currentfrom the central oflice to reak the normal circuit of the generator,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence'of two subscribing witnesses.

KOBY KOHN. Witnesses:

F. L. FREEMAN, GEORGIA P. KRAMER.

